A Girl Called Singapore
by ForgottenUmbrella
Summary: I am many things – A girl, a teenager, an Asian island nation with a few centuries of history... I don't really know anymore. A collection of short stories.
1. Singapore, a British Colony

Firstly, hello once again! I haven't actually written anything for a really long time, so it was super fun to work on this. This whole story is going to be centered around an OC, Singapore.

I know Singapore has several islands around the mainland, but she isn't really an island chain like Indonesia.

Edit 13/12/2015: Title and summary have been changed, because they're really misleading.

Including:  
 _How I questioned England's eyebrows,  
How long the Europeans took,  
I feel like he forgot about me,  
England's scones and  
Hong Kong, the nice smelling port._

* * *

It was an ordinary day in 1819. I spent the morning as I always did, searching for shells on the beach, fishing, and simply enjoying the abundant greenery and observing the numerous creatures that populated the forest.

Closer to noon, I settled down on the shore and watched the waves come in. Waves were fascinating to me. The waters could move quickly or slowly, but they all inevitably lapped against the coast. There appeared to be a spot in the distance that was growing larger and larger with each passing second. I rubbed my eyes, thinking that it was a figment of my imagination, but it was not. Before I knew it, the people on the ship were disembarking.

Some of the men had brown hair, but some were blonde, a colour which was not commonly found in Asia.

" _They must be foreigners,"_ I thought. " _I wonder where they're from."_ Being a small, undeveloped land mass, I had never taken a step off my island. Sure, the people from up north had come to visit once in a blue moon, but that was about as much contact as I got with non-locals.

One of the men spotted me, and the whole party headed over. I shot up and ran towards the forest, but I had barely taken a few steps when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Your legs are too short to run, kid."

I froze from shock upon turning around and seeing his face. _Who was this guy? What did he want from me?_ **_Why did his face have two giant furry caterpillars glued above his eyes?_**

The man kneeled down so that his face was at my level. "We won't hurt you," he said in English. I had little knowledge of the language at that time. "Two questions," he continued, holding up two fingers for me to see. "What is this place and who is your leader?"

"Ia dipanggil Singapura," I said, hoping he could speak Malay. His baffled look proved that he could not. "Singapura. Singapura." I did not understand his second question. The eyebrow man sighed and called one of his companions over. This man had short dark brown hair and wore a starch white high-collared shirt.

He spoke to the blonde for a short while before repeating the same questions to me, only this time, it was in Malay. Since I could understand him, I replied, "Oh, it's called Singapura. I suppose you could talk to the Temenggong."

The man nodded and relayed what I had said to his companion. They both walked away, presumably to look for the person I had mentioned.

Thinking nothing of the meeting, I skipped back to the shore and let the waves wash over my feet.

... ... ... ... ... ... ...

In less than a fortnight, I was on my way to becoming a trading port for the British Empire. It was all so sudden, but I supposed it would be a nice change of pace. For one, ships would come by more often, and I would even see people from other continents.

I asked some of the locals what had happened. One told me, "Oh, you know about how there's a dispute over which brother should be the rightful Sultan? The younger one holds the position, and he is under the Dutch. As such, he couldn't let the British come here. So they went and found the older brother on some island and got him to sign the agreement instead."

I giggled in excitement. I could not wait to see all the new developments that would happen because of this!

... ... ... ... ... ... ...

 _5 overly long years later..._

The British and the Dutch had finally reached an agreement over territorial rights. Frankly, I found it hilarious that I, a tiny red dot who did not even appear on some maps, had caused a fairly large dispute between them. In the end, I went to the British.

In that period of time with all the British people coming in and out, I learned some English; not great, but I was able to talk to them if I had to. I did not see the man with the caterpillar eyebrows until several days after the Anglo-Dutch treaty of 1824 had been signed. Like the previous time, he arrived by ship together with a number of foreign men. They inspected the island, making plans and drawing maps, before heading back to Europe.

Being a trading port allowed me to see a lot of fascinating things and people. Since anyone could stop in and trade or rest for a while for free, a lot of traders came and brought money with them. I would love to say that it was a wonderful period for my native inhabitants and me, but that was not really the case.

Sure, the port prospered, but with more and more people moving in from around Asia, it started to get crowded. Most of them were from southern China, and came to find jobs, or simply fled from the difficulties that they had been facing in their homeland. There were also quite a number from India and from up north as well. At first, it was troublesome to communicate with them. Why did all of them speak different languages?

Of course, I eventually learnt their languages and was able to speak with them. However, communication with foreigners was the least of my worries.

Fights often broke out for seemingly no good reason. Disease and poverty ran rampant in many areas. Babies crawled on the floor with the rats, and these rodents were becoming huge nuisances. Overall, it was horrible and our colonisers did not notice our condition.

I groaned, and watched the ships come in and out of the port like bees and their hive.

... ... ... ... ... ... ...

 _Some years later, because I do not feel like talking more..._

"Bloody hell, where did my scones go?" The bushy-eyebrowed-man shouted. I had learnt that he was the man representing England, as well as the entire United Kingdom. There were others, of course. Scotland, Wales and Ireland were all his brothers.

I smiled as I hid behind a pillar. English food seemed nice enough at a glance, but I had heard about the mouth-sucking dryness of scones. I had felt that England should be saved from the torture of eating his own food, so I had decided to be kind and had thrown the scones away for him.

He paused for a moment as he stared at the empty plate, before noticing the mop that I had carelessly left against the nearby wall.

He frowned, making his eyebrows meld together in a comedic fashion. Then it all came together in his mind.

"SINGAPORE, YOU IMBECILE!"

I laughed as I ran away.

... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Between managing the port and taking steamships back and forth from England, I had quite a bit to do. I would occasionally meet other colonies, who would come for a few weeks before returning to their respective countries. Among them were Hong Kong and Seychelles.

Hong Kong was a fellow Asian colony, a boy whose face betrayed none of his emotions. He was shuttled back and forth between the British Empire and China, before finally settling down as a part of China. Due to being exposed to both their cultures and languages, he was able to speak both English and Cantonese. I thought it was cute that his Chinese name, 香港, literally meant 'nice smelling port'.

Seychelles, on the other hand, was a bubbly twin-tailed African archipelago with 115 islands. She was under the influence of both the British and the French at different points in time, thus she was capable of speaking both their languages, but started developing her own after a while.

I heard that a lot of the major players involved in World War II landed on her islands for mysterious reasons...

There were others such as Egypt, Australia, heck, even Canada. He had left the house three months after I had first met him. He never came back.

I was relaxed for a good 70 years. That is, until World War II began...

* * *

* Of course, the men on the ship were England and Sir Stamford Raffles.  
* "From up North," it was kind of weird to say from Malaysia since they weren't actually called Malaysia back then.  
* I don't speak Malay, so do let me know if that one sentence is correct.  
* Though yes, I do know Chinese, even if I'm not very good at it.  
* Wikipedia says that Canada gained independence 1 July 1867, while Singapore became a Crown Colony (when she visited England's house) 1 April 1867.

* Next up: Either her days pretending to be a student in her own country or how I attempted to fit Nekotalia into the regular Hetalia verse.  
* Is this funny enough?  
* I hope you enjoyed it ^^


	2. Singapore, a Cat Lover

**This hasn't been beta'd yet, so it might change later on.**

Including:  
 _Don't try too hard to understand,  
Waiting for lunch,  
Welcome company and  
Buffet fight_

This is sort of like Singapore's journal as she watches the chaotic world around her.

A quick list of cat names used in this chapter, because everyone uses different ones:

America - Freedom  
Canada - Maple  
France - Blanc (white)  
Taiwan - Hua (flower)  
Singapore - Catherine  
Malaysia - Bulan (Moon)  
Most of them are just words in their respective languages, because I'm lame like that. I like cats a lot, as you can probably tell.

* * *

Many nations own pet cats, for some reason or another. Their furry feline friends tend to have personalities and other traits that greatly resemble those of their owners. For example, France's cat, Blanc, is a fluffy, flirtatious Persian who is very interested in the relationships between other nation cats. He also seems to like roses.

Canada's Ragamuffin, Maple, has a very long curl coming out of the top of his head, as well as peculiar spectacle-shaped markings around his eyes. Sometimes he vanishes, only to turn up in plain sight several minutes later. Apart from the curl and silkier fur, he looks exactly like his twin, Freedom. Most of the time, I cannot tell them apart.

I am unsure of whether spectacle-shaped markings can occur in nature. Nation cats' patterns do not always follow the common ones for their respective breeds, possibly to enhance their likeness to their owners. As a whole, they do not make much sense. Some have been living for well over 1000 years, yet they still look young and healthy. Then again, nations themselves make little sense, so I suppose that it is fair enough.

Younger countries such as Iceland or me own tiny kittens instead. This makes sense if you think about how we appear around 16 and 15-years-old, respectively. At least, I think that that is roughly how we look in human terms. I do not really know. It gets a bit confusing after a while. Humans age very quickly compared to us, but when I see one who looks my age, I tend to get confused about how old they are.

I may or may not have offended some of my citizens when walking around on the streets...

Anyway, most nation cats are of breeds that originated in or around the country, although there are several exceptions to this. Some nations do not have purebreds, like me. The only breed that originated from Singapore is the Singapura, but my cat is only partially one. It is very evident in her calico coat, which Singapuras never have. Well, nothing about my country is completely 'pure', if one could use that word. We have many races, many religions, many languages; the list goes on.

The nation cats sometimes hold meetings. Apparently, the things they discuss range from how well their owners' economies are faring to trade in tinned cat food, or so Catherine says. Although the nation cats are mysteriously capable of speaking their national languages, we nations can only understand our own pets, even if we share languages. Sure, I could try speaking to Taiwan or England's cats, but they would probably stare at me and meow in response. According to Catherine, they _do_ understand me, so it is me who cannot decipher their, um, _words._

I should not think too hard about it...

Most of the time, Catherine plays with Bulan or Hua, Malaysia and Taiwan's cats, respectively. Both of them are older than her, but are still fairly childish. Bulan gets into scuffles over water with Catherine at times, even though there is more than enough for the two. Hua just lies on her thick pillow and meows. Perhaps she is laughing at them.

Why do I spend so much time observing other nations' cats, you say? Well, that would be because I simply love them. They bring a feeling of peace that cannot be achieved with people. Even if I am not on Greece's level in terms of my stray cat population, it would be an absolute lie to say that I do not enjoy their company.

... ... ... ... ... ... ...

I was sandwiched between Malaysia and Indonesia during the meeting, who would not stop arguing over whose country batik dyes had originated from. The voices that flew past my head were irritating, so I tried to ignore them and focused on the long, boring speeches. My attempts were no more successful than they had been for the last several decades.

After I realised that nobody was actually bothering about me, most of them being too caught up in their own petty arguments or _listening to the meeting_ , I let my gaze slip to the 200 odd cats that were wandering around the room. The majority of them had congregated around the Mediterranean countries, or specifically, Greece. He was an absolute cat magnet and nothing he did would ever stop the cats from clambering over him and clamouring for his attention.

I chuckled at the sight of the sleepy European nation being engulfed in a sea of cats. It was not as if it had been my first time seeing it, but it never failed to amuse me. I doubted I was the only one, since I remember hearing the distinct sound of someone trying to disguise a laugh as a cough.

The calm moments were destroyed when I heard Malaysia slam his hands on the table and yell, "At least I'm not the one who causes people to have breathing problems!"

Indonesia's face visibly paled, but she still looked ready to fight Malaysia over whatever the topic of their disagreement was. She probably would have, too, had Vietnam not cut through their argument. "Malaysia, Indonesia, _sit down._ "

The two nations obeyed, but continued glaring at each other.

I glanced at my watch, which read " _11:59_ ". " _Please let them call lunch before a fight breaks out again. Let them call lunch. Let them call lunch. Can they call for lunch already? Do it, do it, do it, someone, anyone, please, I'm begging you, just call for lun-"_

"Let's eat everyone!" America suddenly called out. I heaved a sigh of relief, grateful that I was not about to be trapped in the middle of a fight over the origins of _food_.

"That came out wrong!" England yelled from his seat, somehow able to detect his former colony's lack of a comma.

"Fine then, let's eat, everyone," America repeated with a sigh. England nodded his head in approval, and headed out the door.

" _Come on Singapore, don't you want to eat too?"_ I looked down at Catherine, who was pawing at my feet expectantly. I resigned to the fact that I had to feed my cat and placed her on my head. It was peculiar, but she really enjoyed the view and had not fallen off once.

... ... ... ... ... ... ...

The true reason for the cats' presence at the meeting was unknown. It had something to do with 'letting the cats out of the house and play with each other for a while,' although that had sounded like absolute rubbish to me. Most of our cats were allowed out at all times, sometimes disappearing for days on end only to show up several thousand kilometres away in another nation's home. It was baffling, but they never returned with major injuries, so few of us actually worried about it. There were more than enough other issues to fuss over without being concerned over the whereabouts of our pet cats.

Fortunately, the cats seemed to know that something important was taking place, and few sought the attention of their owners or made loud noises - not to say that the meeting was not chaotic enough already.

Regardless, the company was not unwelcome.

... ... ... ... ... ... ...

The buffet was pleasant as usual. Although the food differed depending on who the host country was, there was always a variety to cater to all the different tastes and restrictions each nation had.

American cuisine 'consisted largely of junk food', as one of my citizens once said. They definitely enjoyed fried dishes, especially meat, although they did have some other staples.

Of course, I could not eat in absolute peace.

There was a shout of, "Yeah, food fight!" from my right, and suddenly I was assaulted by a slab of beef. I peeled the offending meat off my clean blazer and threw it in a dustbin. " _I just washed that yesterday..."_ I lamented to myself.

I would not partake in such childish antics, even if I was one of the youngest nations in attendance. My attempt to act as mature as possible was cut short when a stray fry smacked Catherine in the face, the impact nearly knocking my tiny cat over.

... ...

I do not quite remember what occurred after that, but I think I managed to get my revenge.

* * *

* Singapore imports water from Malaysia since we don't have a completely sustainable supply yet. They don't actually fight over water as far as I know.  
* I see Malaysia and Indonesia as siblings who'd fight a lot over what originated where and everything else.  
* Totally strange ending  
* I haven't had the chance to show off any Singlish yet.  
* Her height is around 155cm/5.1 feet  
* I asked one of my friends what the first thing that came to her mind when I said American cuisine was, and she said, "Western." Thus, American cuisine is western.


End file.
